A Bullet to the Heart
by obsessive360
Summary: While at Solomon's safe house in DJGC, someone else follows the girls, and boy, does he have a story to tell. Perhaps Cammie will finally have the answers she has been seeking since her dad went MIA and was declared dead. Well, some of them. (Note: This story is obviously AU, so it makes the following books invalid.) Now, every detail is another shot through Cammie's heart.
1. From the Lake House to the White House

A/N: This takes place in DJGC when the girls find Macey at Joe's safe house. Someone else followed them, and boy, does he have a story to tell. Perhaps Cammie will finally have the answers she has been seeking since her dad went MIA and was declared dead. Well, some of them. (Note: This story is obviously AU, so it makes books 4,5, and 6(when is comes out) invalid.)

CPOV

"You're late.", as soon as Macey spoke those words, I knew Mr. Solomon had been right.

We stood up and, as all girls do, Bex, Liz, and I hugged out best friend. Of course, then Liz did something so un-Liz-ish that even Bex was taken aback.

"Macey McHenry, don't you ever runaway like that again! We are sisters, we have a sacred bond we swore to protect, and no sister of mine makes me worry that much without a good reason, and no, 'I was completely freaked out and thought I was only let into Gallagher because of my great-great-grandmother" thing is not a good reason.", she snapped, raising her voice for only the second time in all the years I had known her.

"I'm sorry, Liz. I'm sorry to all of you. I just wanted to think I was finally somewhere that I was liked for who I really am, not because of my family.", Macey replied, and she looked on the verge of tears.

"Mace, it's my fault. You were never supposed to hear that. We planned on telling you, well, my mom would have told you, but we weren't sure how to tell you. I mean, you can't just go, 'Oh, hey, Macey, you're a direct descendant of Gillian Gallagher.'", I told her, trying, but ultimately failed, not to laugh.

At that, we all burst into a fit of laughter, knowing that conversation would have turned out worse than what actually happened.

"Hey, who wants to investigate Mr. Solomon's house?", Macey said a few minutes later.

Bex and Liz looked at each other, then at us

"Let's go!", they said in unison.

We went through the house and made notes on what we saw. Liz said something about cat food, and that was when we found out we were not alone.

"That'll be for Susie, though she died four years ago."

I knew that voice well, better than any other teenaged male voice. I may have looked angry on the outside, but on the inside, I smiled widely as I turned to face him.

"Hey, there, Blackthorne Boy.", and by saying this, I had done something no one could have predicted: I surprised Zachary Goode.

Naturally, Bex and Liz went into attack mode, but Macey grabbed their shoulders. I turned back to Zach after calming down my friends. I was angry, slightly, that he was stalking me across the country, so I gave him my best 'What the hell' look.

"Cammie, please, let me talk to you. You need to know the truth, and it would be better if I was the one to tell you. Could I please talk to you, in private, that is?", he asked, shame shining in his emerald eyes, along with something else I could not place.

"Yeah, we can talk. Hey, Macey, why don't you show the girls the lake?", I replied, sending my best friend the 'Do this and I'll be your Barbie doll for a month' look.

"Sure, Cam, but you owe me.", Macey said, nearly dragging the other two out of the safe house.

When I turned back around from watching my three best friends walk down to the pier, arm in arm as if nothing was ever wrong, I saw Zach unlocking a hidden safe that was, as cheesy as it is, behind a painting of the lake. My first thought was something along the lines of, 'How did he know that was there?'

"In order to tell you the truth, I have to tell you a story first.", he said, sitting down on the couch and patting the seat next to him.

I felt I should trust him, so I sat down in the aforementioned seat. Zach opened the first of the large leather bound binders in front of us on the coffee table.

"It's a photo album. My uncle once told me even the toughest and sneakiest government spy needs a hobby and his was this. These pictures, really this whole book is nothing but my uncle and his best friend. I think you'll recognize them.", he whispered, opening the book.

I looked at the first picture and gasped. It was of Mr. Solomon and… my dad. They were in a hospital room with a woman, a woman holding a bundle of blue blankets. Zach must have seen my reaction, because he gave me a smile, an actually smile, and explained the picture.

"It was the day I was born. My uncle had just landed at Langley when my mom called and said her water broke. My dad was gone before I was born, so he was my only male sort-of-parental figure I had the chance to have. He was rushing so much to get to the hospital, he drug your dad along with him. He claimed he broke several traffic laws to get there, but both my mom, and according to her, your dad disagreed with him.", Zach said softly, his smile rather melancholy.

"Wait, is this one the day I was born?", I asked as I saw the next picture.

"I think it is. Yeah, it is. That's your mom, she's holding you obviously, your dad, Uncle Joe, and he's holding me, and...That cold hearted, manipulative bitch!", he responded, obviously having never seen the picture before.

"What is it?", I asked, confused.

"Not what, Cammie, but who. The woman in the background is my mother. She's been planning this since then? Okay, the rest of the story will have to wait. Cammie, the COC isn't after Macey, at all!", he said, though the last line was a bit angrier than the rest of the statement.

"Then why did they attack us in Boston?", I asked, and Zach face palmed.

"God, Gallagher Girl, you're supposed to be a genius. They were after you, not her! The woman that attacked you was my mother! She's one of the leaders of the COC, and her most recent attempt has been to bring me entirely over to her side. I told her over the summer I wasn't going to betray my friends. She knew it was more than that, and eventually I was forced to tell her about you. She knew, still knows, the number one way to get to me is to threaten everything and everyone I care about, starting with you. Her original plan had you being swayed to her side with lies about your dad and/or mom, depending on which one could or would get killed on a mission. After she found out about how I felt about you, she changed the plan. She doesn't care how many people have to get hurt before she gets what she wants. The only reason I'm still alive is because the COC have been ordered by her to not touch me or they will be killed.", Zach said, though he kept his voice level.

The only thing that changed was that he had wrapped his arms around me. Despite finding out that it was his _mother _who had signed my death warrant, I just snuggled closer to him, looking down at the picture from the day of my birth, looking at the woman who had been planning to tear my life apart since day one.

"What's her name?", I asked after several minutes of silence.

"Catherine, Catherine Goode. All I know about my dad is his last name, obviously, so don't ask about that.", Zach answered, but he was not angry, was not sad, and was not depressed in any way; no, he was actually had his signature smirk on his face.

"Thanks, Zach. I'll be sure to remember that if we come face to face. So, you were at the hospital when I was born. Interesting.", I said, looking from his face, which showed how mixed his emotions were, to the photo in the album on our laps.

"Apparently so, but I'm not too surprised. When I was a baby, my mom would let Uncle Joe spend a lot of time with me. She probably started planning Gallagher's downfall about then. According to this picture, Uncle Joe would have been there because he's your godfather. If he had me with him that day, I'd have been there. The only one without a real reason for being there is my mother. You know, if she knew I was here, she'd kill me without a second though.", Zach said, sending me into a long train of thoughts that all ended the same way.

"We've got to go check on the girls!", and with that, Zach shoved the photo album in the safe, slammed it shut, hung the painting back up, and grabbed my hand, running out the back door towards the pier.

When we reached Macey, Bex, and Liz, I was relieved that nothing had happened to them. I ordered them back into the safe house, and they listened without question. I turned around, expecting Zach to be gone, just like the last time, but he was still there.

"There's one more thing, Gallagher Girl.", he said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"What?", I asked, slightly panicking.

"Blackthorne hasn't always been strictly about being a spy. Until my uncle began changing things, the school was a school for assassins too.", he said in a deathly quiet whisper.

"Maybe your mother should have gone there and your uncle should have gone to Gallagher.", I said with a slight hint of venom, but hey, the woman wants me dead or on her side just so her son stays with her.

Zach let out a chuckle at that, leading me back to the safe house by the hand, and oddly enough, I liked that.

Almost as soon as we were back inside, I called my mom. As soon as that was over, we knew two things: my mom was no longer at Gallagher, and we needed to get into Washington, D.C. on the most important day of this year undetected.

"It won't be easy, it won't be comfortable, and it won't be cheap. If you're going to D.C., go get in Liz's minivan.", Macey ordered, taking the lead.

We all began to leave, even Zach. That surprised me, let me tell you.

"You aren't disappearing on me again, are you?", I asked, scared more for what could happen to him than of his psychotic mother.

"Not today, Gallagher Girl, not today.", he whispered, taking the keys from me and getting in the driver's seat.

"Good, Goode.", was my only reply, turning on the radio, a small smile drifting across my face.

The whole way to the mall closest to D.C., we acted like normal teenagers. We sang along with the radio, joked around, and teased each other.

In the mall parking lot, Liz hooked her laptop up to a large system in the back, one I did not dare ask how she managed to fit in the van. After about five minutes, she handed each of us a folder. Inside was a legend. Damn, Liz was good at breaking the rules. My legend was near impeccable. No one would notice anything abnormal about it.

**Name: Morgan Rachel Solomon**

**Age: 17**

**DOB: February 18, 1990**

**Hair Color:**

**Eye Color:**

**Height:**

I blinked a few times at the empty spots, but Liz cleared her throat.

"I'll fill in the other ones after we have our disguises. We have 45 minutes to get in and get out. Go.", Liz told us, as we were all confused.

Exactly forty-five minutes later, we were back at the van, but we were not ourselves. _Macey_ was now a girl named McKenzie Elizabeth Cameron, a tall auburn haired swimmer from New York, dressed in a pink top, dark wash jeans, pink Keds, an auburn wig, hazel eyes, a pink shoulder bag, and a pair of pink sunglasses.

_Bex_ was now Sara Marcy Good, no "e" on the end, an Russian exchange student currently living in Tennessee, not to mention, she was a party girl in a short green skirt, red and black tube top, red high heels, and a black jacket.

_Liz_ was now Daphne Rebecca Cameron, McKenzie's little sister, a small red head dressed in leather pants and a silk green blouse.

Zach, well he was my personal project at the moment. The boy beside me, holding my hand like it was a lifeline, was not Zachary Goode, but Joseph Matthew Andrews. He was dressed in dark wash jeans, a red, black, and white plaid shirt, black and white converse, brown contacts, and a red beanie. In short, he still looked hot.

I, on the other hand, had on a light blue dress, grey jacket, grey high heels, grey contacts, and a long blonde wig. None of us looked very comfortable. Not me in grey high heels, not Bex in the red and black tube top, not Liz in leather pants, not Macey in all pink, and not Zach in his beanie. But we had no choice, this was what we had to do, this what we chose to do.

Within another fifteen to thirty minutes, we had reached our destination. We got out of the van and began walking. We had almost made it to the door when a voice stopped us.

"Girls, this way!", it was my mom.

"You too, Joey.", I said with a smirk, a wink, and a tug on Zach's hand.

"Who is he, and who are they?", none other than Cynthia McHenry asked.

"Mom, it's me, Macey! We had to sneak out of Gallagher in disguise so no one would know it was me! This is Zach, a friend of mine. He's also the nephew of one of my teachers.", Macey hissed, taking out her contacts and pulling off the wig.

"Inside, all of you.", my mom said suddenly, ushering us past her.

She had reached out to pull Zach away, but I caught her hand.

"No, Mom, he's with me.", I said in a low whisper, making her retract her hand slowly.

We got inside, took off our disguises, and opened the backpack Liz brought. Inside were outfits we actually liked. I switched the high heels I had for a pair of white Keds, even though Macey said it was bad luck to wear white shoes after Labor Day.

Bex pulled on Capri pants and a jacket, covering up her athletic body.

Macey had returned in a nave suit, looking angry.

Liz switched her shoes as I had.

I tried not to stare too much as Zach pulled off his plaid shirt and pulled on a tight black t-shirt and a black dress jacket.

He smirked at me, came over, and placed his hands on my hips. Then he whispered something to me that made me go pink and retort almost automatically.

"Like what you see, Gallagher Girl?"

"You know what, I think I do."

I then giggled like a cliché movie protagonist and smiled as he leaned down to kiss me. However, much like back in Roseville this past spring, someone called my name before our lips met.

"Cammie?", it was Preston.

Zach said something not too polite in Farsi, and I lightly smacked him upside the head. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I simply put on my best 'Who, me?' face and he placed a kiss on the top of my head.

"Hey, Preston, how have you been?", I asked, trying to be nice.

"Oh, I've been…bored, agitated, and ready to punch someone. You?", he replied, laughing slightly.

"Oh, about the same as you, Preston, and I'll have to add infuriated to that list. These are my friends, Rebecca 'Bex' Baxter and Elizabeth 'Liz' Sutton. This is Zach Goode, my…", I trailed off, not sure what we were now.

"I'm Cammie's boyfriend. It is so nice to meet the possible First Son of America. Oh, I see my uncle. Cammie, we should go let him know we've made it here.", Zach lied expertly, well, except that Joe was really entering the room.

"Yes, we should.", I said, eager to ask him why he, or even my mother, had not told me what his relation to me really was.

"It was nice meeting you Preston. But a word of advice, Macey is like a sister to these three. So if you hurt her, they will kick your ass.", Zach said to the formerly nerdy son of a governor.

"After what I saw in Boston, I don't doubt that.", Preston said with a smile before walking off.

I just smiled at my Blackthorne Boy as we walked over to my father's best friend. Mr. Solomon looked up just as we reached him, and he jumped about a mile in the air.

"Zach?", he asked.

"Hello, Uncle.", Zach said, pulling me into his arms, the smile/smirk vanishing from his face.

"Yes, hello, apparent godfather of mine.", I added with a look of rage.

"How do you know about that?", Mr. Solomon asked, a look of paranoia crossing over his face briefly.

"Well, my apparent boyfriend here likes stalking me throughout the country. He followed me to your lake house, where Macey was. He showed me the photo album and told me everything he knows. Now I know why I remembered a ct named Suzie. I've started to remember things about from when I was little. Now I have a new question: Why did you go away for so long, Joey, why?", I asked, pleading with him.

"It was for the best. We didn't want anyone targeting you. Your father and I agreed it was for the best and that, as usual, your mother was right. Being connected to four CIA operatives was, and isn't a good thing for young children.", he said quietly.

"But I wasn't a child anymore when you came to Gallagher last year. You never told me even then! Why didn't you tell me then?", I nearly begged, fighting back the tears.

"Because I knew if my psychotic sister found out, she would try to get me to bring you over to her side. I can't destroy her if she's gaining followers.", Mr. Solomon said in a low whisper.

"I know that, but when my father, your best friend, was declared dead, I needed you, and I needed Aunt Abby, but neither of you were there. Why can't you just do the simplest thing and be there now?", I asked, pleading for a response.

"Come on, Gallagher Girl, let's go for a walk.", Zach said, pulling me into his arms again and steering me outside.

As we walked, Zach told me stories about before he went to Blackthorne, and I was genuinely interested. Every so often, I would tell a story about my childhood, like the time I tailed my dad through the mall to find out what I was getting for Christmas. We were so absorbed in and focused on what the other was saying; neither of us was on guard, neither of us spotted the black van at the end of the block. By the time we saw it, it had stopped beside us, and several people dressed in black jumped out, ready for a fight.

"Zach, she's here!", I whispered, actually scared.

"Cammie, don't be scared. I'm here, and you will be safe. Trust me.", he replied in just as much a whisper as I had spoken; I knew I had to do as he said and trust him.

I saw the assailants, two men and a woman jumped out of the van, and they ran straight for us. The only thing I could do was scream out the one name in my mind.

"Macey!"

It happened so fast, if I would have blinked, I'd have missed it. Macey, Bex, and Liz came barreling out of the side of the building and pounced on the two men. Zach snuck through the shadows and took out the driver. I was left alone, with the woman running straight at me, thinking one thing.

_'Oh, look, technically my monster-in-law!'_

Have I mentioned that in addition to the 14 actual languages I speak, I also speak fluent sarcasm? If I have forgotten that fact, well, now you know.

As the woman neared me, I saw her eyes. They shined like emeralds glistening with pride. I smirked internally, recognizing her.

"Hello, Catherine.", I said, side stepping her attack.

"You must be Cammie. Did you know that you boyfriend's mother was a-"

"Was a traitor, psycho, Gallagher Girl, apparent friend of my parents, person planning my downfall (and Gallagher's) since at least the day I was born, and/or a cold hearted, manipulative bitch? The last one was in your son's words, not mine.", I cut her off, smirking outright now.

Catherine seemed to falter, but only for a moment. She glared at me, but she was also smirking.

"Oh, Cammie, flattery will get you nowhere.", she chuckled darkly.

"As long as nowhere is far from you, I'll be okay with that.", I replied cheekily.

"How about six feet under, Cammie?", she asked.

"Is your slogan the one from the Revolutionary War? Join or Die?", I asked, biting back a laugh.

"You're about to find out.", she said, raising, which I had just noticed, the gun in her hand and pointing it at me.

It happened so fast, I have no clue how it happened. I heard the shot, then another, but father away. I heard to loud thumps on the ground, a few screams, and then the sickening crack of the butt of a pistol against a skull. Then, everything went black.

A/N: Hey guys, this is my first GG story, and I hope it was okay. R&R please!


	2. A Moment of Peace

A/N: This takes place in DJGC when the girls find Macey at Joe's safe house. Someone else followed them, and boy, does he have a story to tell. Perhaps Cammie will finally have the answers she has been seeking since her dad went MIA and was declared dead. Well, some of them. (Note: This story is obviously AU, so it makes books 4,5, and 6(when is comes out) mostly invalid.)

CPOV

You would think that by now, I would be used to waking up in the hospital, but I do not think I can ever get used to that. Especially not when I wake up to my mom, aunt, and godfather looking at me with tearstained faces. Yes, Joe Solomon can cry.

"Mom, Aunt Abby, Joey?", I asked, looking at the three of them.

My mom went over to the door, closed it, and placed a small device by aforementioned door.

"Cammie, there was a shot fired at you, and one fired at Macey. Aunt Abby took Macey's shot, but as you can see, she is perfectly okay. Zach took your shot, Kiddo.", my mother told me, her face pale and thin as if she had not slept in a week.

"What happened to him?", I asked instantly.

"He's fine, but I've hid him from Catherine. My sister believes her son is dead, so should most of the country. After what happened, I can't bring myself to tell you the cover story. We, as in the three of us, have decided to send you with him, as Catherine will blame you and, obviously, launch an attack on you. After Zach's 'funeral', you will be sent to a safe house, where Zach will be, waiting for you. Please, Cammie, don't go looking for her. Promise me you won't go looking for my sister.", Mr. Sol- no, Joey, my godfather, said, his green eyes begging me to promise.

"I promise, Joey. I won't go looking for my boyfriend's psychotic mother. Can the girls know about this?", I asked, looking towards my mother.

"As you kept your secret boyfriend from last year from me, I think you four can handle this secret. However, you cannot talk directly about the situation outside of the safe house. Am I understood?", my mother asked, looking at me with her sternest look possible for the situation.

"Yes, Ma'am, Mom.", I replied politely, smiling widely at my mother.

"I will brief the girls and send them in.", she said quietly as she picked up the device from the floor.

I turned to Aunt Abby, who had her arm in a sling.

"Hey, Squirt. I'm so glad you're okay!", she cheered, sitting down next to me and giving me a light squeeze.

"Back at you, Aunt Abby.", I replied leaning against her good arm.

I dozed off again against my aunt, but when I woke, Aunt Abby was gone and I saw the faces of my three best friends, all smiling and excited.

"Hey guys, what's up?', I asked, giggling a bit.

"Well, we just received the most awesome assignment from your mom. We're going to spend Christmas break with you and Zach at the safe house!", Macey whispered, hugging me before even Bex had a chance to.

"And we'll be going undercover at a normal high school in the spring to protect you there!", Liz added as she hugged me.

"And we get credit for this!", Bex concluded, excited to get credit for one of our wild missions.

"Why are you excited about that, Bex?", I asked, smiling at my friends.

"Because, we get credit for missing out on classes at Gallagher!", Bex told me with a hug of her own.

"I love guys!", I said, then pulled them in for a group hug.

"Well, when you get discharged, you and I are going shopping. You have to have the perfect 'funeral' outfit.", Macey said, air quoting the word 'funeral.'

"God, you're odd sometimes, Macey.", I joked, smiling at my friend.

"But you love me for it!", she fired back instantly, hugging me and laughing.

Four days later, I was standing before a closed, not to mention empty, coffin. I knew Zach was safe, but part of me, apparently the dominant part, could only stand there and cry. Then again, my ear piece Macey gave me was playing Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream", and the song is so sad that it always makes me cry.

As we pretended to mourn Zach, my mother stood behind me, her hand on my shoulder, and Joey was on my left, dabbing his eyes with his pocked handkerchief. Grant and Jonas stood behind the chairs Bex and Liz occupied, their hands placed ever-so-gently upon the shoulders of their respective girlfriends. Macey stood next to Grant, behind Aunt Abby, who was in the seat next to Joey. For what we were doing now, we all disserved Academy Awards.

Finally, it was over. Macey, Liz, and Bex led me to the minivan, which Jonas and Grant were already at, Grant in the driver's seat and Jonas waiting at the rear passenger side door for us. We got in, Grant started the engine, and the whole way to Roseville, we were quiet.

Once we reached Roseville, we were all a bit hungry. Lunch would have been over and dinner was hours away up at the school, so we decided to go to the diner. We sat around the table eating our food, letting our guard down long enough that we missed who entered the diner.

"Cammie?", it was Josh.

"H-h-hey.", I said shakily.

"What's wrong? Why do you all look so…depressed?", he asked.

"Zach, my best friend and Cammie's boyfriend, died last week. He was shot while we were on a school trip to DC.", Grant supplied, reaching over and patting me on the shoulder.

"Whoa! That's terrible. I'm so sorry, Cammie.", Josh said, but Jonas, of all people, looked him straight in the eye and said something I would have never expected him to say.

"Cammie isn't a whore, nor is she weak. Just because she lost her boyfriend doesn't mean she's going to come crawling back to you."

"Thanks, Jonas.", I whispered, sending him a small smile.

"What are friends for, Cam?", he replied with a smile of his own.

"Well, we really should be going. You girls do have to pack for Christmas holidays, don't you?", Grant added, placing his hand on top of Bex's as Josh's gaze landed on her for a half a second.

"Yeah, and I promised Joey I'd say bye to him before we left for the airport. Aunt Abby too.", I said, rising first.

"Who's Joey, your cousin? Brother? A secret boyfriend?", Dillon asked as he walked up.

"No, he's my godfather, and he happens to be very protective over me. He teaches at Gallagher.", I replied, reminding him of who I happened to be.

"Oh, okay then.", Dillon said as he gave me a Gallagher Glare.

"Could you move if you're done talking to Cammie?", Bex asked in her best American-New York accent.

They moved, letting us all leave, but a few Gallagher glares were given. We ignored them, paying for our food and then leaving.

Inside Gallagher, Grant and Jonas headed up to my mom's office while we rushed up to our room, frantically changing into the clothes we planned on wearing to the safe house. Our luggage sat neatly packed on our beds.

Once we were all ready, we found ourselves in my mom's office. She was telling us all about how we were to operate while in our new school when I interrupted her.

"Mom, I think we should just stick with the old plan. We should do everything as normally as possible. The best way to through off anyone who wants to get to us, is for us to act as if very little has changed. The only thing we have left is straying from routine. What else should I be told that you don't want me to know?"

"I'll be leaving soon, Cammie. The CIA managed to get one of the goons, the one I think Ms. Baxter, Ms. Sutton, and Ms. McHenry took down. Oh, nice punch, by the way, Ms. McHenry. He will most likely mention that we were recruited together at Blackthorne. They will be after me, so I will have to go. I already got an important set of documents from Blackthorne, but I have some that are locked away here. I do not want you to touch them until I give the go ahead. No one will know my real motives, not one person outside of this room will know my relation to you or to Zach, and none of you will reveal anything we disclose about Zach's, or my own for that matter, whereabouts. Am I understood?", Joey asked, his green eyes boring into me, begging me for a response.

"No.", I said firmly, tears building up in my eyes.

"Cammie-Chameleon, please, listen to me. I have to go. I have to make sure they won't have anything they can use against me; I have to make sure they cannot hurt you. I made a promise to keep you safe if your father didn't come home, and I will honor that promise.", my godfather/CoveOpps teacher replied, placing one hand on my already shaking shoulder, running a hand through my hair, looking truly scared to the bone for the first time in my memory.

"Why is it every single time I need you the most, you leave?", I asked, a single tear trailing down my cheek.

"Because, Cammie, as much as I love you, it's not safe for me to be around you. The fact that my sister knows I will do anything to protect you just means she would, and probably will, use you to get to me. Everyone has to _think _I am working with the COC and that I am out to get you. Do you six understand why I'm doing what I'm doing? Do you understand why I left when you were six?", he asked me, Bex, Liz, Macey, Grant, and Jonas as he wiped my now rapidly falling tears away with his thumb.

The others nodded, but I did no such thing. I looked down at my shoes, and I thought about my next sentence before saying it.

"I understand, but the actions themselves still hurt. I don't like this, but I have to make sure, just as you do, that the people I care most about stay safe as they can.", I whispered, clinging to him, allowing myself to be wrapped in a hug from my godfather.

"We're still sending you to the safe house over the break.", my mom said, though her eyes were glistening with tears.

I nodded, trying to regain my composure. Our flight to the safe house, or rather the airport nearest to the safe house, would leave at midnight, so we girls (and Jonas and Grant) decided to go back to our room and relax until dinner, then until we were supposed to leave.

It was ten-thirty, and Grant and Bex had passed out on her bed about twenty minutes into the movie we had been watching. Liz and Jonas were both high on caffeine as they had been testing Liz's new caffeine patch. It works, let me tell you. Macey was on Liz's laptop, reading an e-mail I suspected to be from Preston. I was the only one who actually noticed the door open slowly, so I was the one who got up, walked across the room, and opened it fully to reveal nothing but a DVD case on the floor. I picked it up and saw familiar handwriting on the sticky-note attached to it.

_Dear Cammie-Chameleon,_

_I found this going through the things I wanted to put together for you to find, and I thought you might want it. Keep this safe from unwanted hands._

_ Love,_

_ Joey, your godfather._

I returned to my room to find Macey passed out as well. Laughing quietly, I took Liz's laptop from her, the computer's owner too busy having a speed reading contest with her Blackthorne counterpart to notice or care.

I plugged in my headphones, inserted the DVD, and blinked a few times as the video popped up. It was of me and Joey, probably when I was about five or six. We were dancing in the living room of the townhouse Mom and I, and Dad, had lived in back in D.C. I looked so happy, carefree, and innocent.

_"Again!"_, I chirped, giggling madly.

_"Yeah, Joe, do this again so I can video tape it"_, my dad said, the camera shaking as he laughed.

The music started up again, and I began dancing with my godfather again. The song sounded so familiar, but I could not, not if my life depended on it, think of its name. The chorus of the song hit, and I instantly remembered the name. It sure explained how I got my nickname at the age of six.

_"I'm a man without conviction _

_I'm a man who doesn't know _

_How to sell a contradiction _

_You come and go _

_You come and go  
Karma, karma, karma _

_Karma, karma chameleon _

_You come and go _

_You come and go  
Loving would be easy _

_If your colors were like my dreams _

_Red, gold and green _

_Red, gold and green…"_

I smiled as I saw my five year old self spinning in circles, in the arms of one of the best CIA agents ever. My mom entered on screen just as a knock sounded. I thought it was on my door until I heard my mother's voice.

_"I've got it!"_, and she was out of the shot for a few minutes.

When she returned, a six year old boy with dark hair entered alongside her. Little me ran over to him and engulfed the kid in a hug. He hugged back.

_"Zach!"_, my six year old self giggled out, making me gasp.

Sure enough, the dark haired boy waved to my dad with a quick, _"Hi, Mr. Morgan!"_, and his eyes shown a bright emerald.

This was something I doubt Zach knew. I would so have to tell him when I next saw him.

The home video ended, and I realized someone was sitting next to me. A hand rested on my shoulder, one with perfectly manicured nails and flashy red polish.

"How much did you see, Mace?", I asked quietly.

"Enough. Did you even notice I took out your left earbud?", she asked, smiling at me, stifling her giggles.

"That means all of it. Don't tell anyone about this Macey. I don't want this to wind up with the wrong people.", I said to her, placing the disk back in its case.

She nodded, and then the alarm went off, waking the other four. We gathered our luggage and headed down the hallways and stair cases through the mansion.

We were silent as we drove to the airport, no one said a word. My mom looked scared, Abby looked positively paranoid, and Joey, well, he looked a bit depressed to be honest. I knew it was because he was about to flee for his life and there was the ever looming possibility that we would never see each other again.

When we got out of the car, my mom handed me my passport and my ticket. She hugged me tightly and told me things would be fine. _Liar_!

Abby assured me no one would be able to find me where I was going and that the girls would join me soon.

Joey said nothing, but he hugged me as if it would be the last time he could. Perhaps it would be. I hugged back, silently praying he could manage to stay out of the CIA's grasp until we proved him innocent.

"Kiddo, your flight is boarding. Go, and don't worry about a thing.", my mom said a few minutes later. I hugged her one more time before walking towards the terminal, only my carryon bag in my hands.

The plane ride was as normal as a plane ride could be; whatever that is, I may never truly know. We landed at London's Heathrow Airport, I disembarked the plane without a word, and I walked towards the baggage claim.

At the baggage claim, I quickly found my suitcases and turned to see who I was supposed to be picked up by. I smiled as I saw Bex and her parents, waving me over with smiles plastered on their faces, only two being fake smiles.

"Cam, you're finally here!", my best friend chirped, hugging me tighter than she ever had.

"Bex, how did you get here so fast?", I asked, laughing as I hugged her back, my luggage around my feet.

"Macey.", was all she said, and I replied with one word.

"Jet?"

"Of course!"

Linking arms with Bex, the two of us walked behind Mr. and Mrs. Baxter, talking extremely fast, and in French. We both still wore our uniforms, so any passerby would assume we went to a rich private school.

Outside, we came face-to-face with a large, black limousine. Mr. Baxter opened the door for Bex and me. Once inside, we saw Macey, her dark hair in a high ponytail, a ruby red scarf tied around it. She too still wore her Gallagher uniform.

"You're here?", I asked with a smile.

"Duh! Did you think I was going to let you two have all of the fun? Liz is staying stateside, because, well, someone needs to do lab work and research on this whole ordeal. I offered to bring her here, but she declined. My parents think I'm doing an extra credit assignment at school, which is the worst possible excuse for missing Christmas with them. Sometimes I wonder how dense my parents really are.", Macey replied, her face going from happy to sad in mere seconds.

"Mace, they love you. They just don't understand you. But no matter what, you'll always have us. Right, Bex?", I said, turning to Bex, who had her hand on Macey's right shoulder as mine was on Macey's left shoulder.

"Of course, Cam. Macey, we're sisters. That means we won't ever be alone. We will always have each other.", Bex added, gently squeezing our friend's shoulder.

By the time we reached the safe house, the three of us were acting like normal teenaged girls again. Being rather childish, we started playing Guess the Disney Song as Bex's dad drove. I won, Bex lost royally. She redeemed herself when we switched to Name the 80s Rock Ballad. We were having so much fun, that we totally missed the car coming to a stop in front of a normal looking brownstone house.

"Girls, we're here.", Mrs. Baxter told us with a smile on her face, probably from seeing us all so carefree.

We got out of the car and went inside, only for me to get pulled into a pair of strong arms. These strong arms led up to broad shoulders, which ran into the rest of my boyfriend, who just held me in his arms.

"I don't think we've been this excited to see each other since we were kids.", I whispered, thinking about the DVD in my carryon bag.

"We've met a long time ago, Zach. I was five, maybe six. We were at my house in D.C. Your uncle and I had been dancing to "Karma Chameleon." You came over to my house. My mom let you in, you waved to my dad. I have it on video.", I told him, a smile creeping up on my face.

"Prove it.", he dared, a playful smirk gracing his lips.

"Got a DVD player?", I asked, taking the disk from my bag.

He led me to another room, Macey and Bex hot on our tails. He turned the DVD player on, and I put the disk in. Making sure the adults were busy with the luggage, I pressed play. I smiled as I watched the video. I saw no spies in it. I saw a rather odd, but perfect family, a happy family.

"Now we know the answer to one of the world's greatest mysteries.", Bex said with a laugh.

"Which one?", I asked.

"How you became the Chameleon before you became a Gallagher Girl.", Bex replied, looking out the window to see where her parents were.

"I've got to hide this. I have to keep this safe.", I stated as I put the disk back in its case, then back in my bag.

Just as I did, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter came inside, the last of the luggage in the entry hall. We hurried over to them, finding each of our bags amongst the pile of suitcases. I looked, and then I giggled. Macey had five suitcases, Bex had three that were made of what looked like titanium, and I had three average purple suitcases. When we left, I knew Liz had four bags packed, because she had one filled entirely with books. Just like when we get bored on car rides and turn into normal teenage girls, we do the same when packing.

We lugged our stuff to our room, and then we went back downstairs. The night was quiet. Nothing out of the ordinary happened that night, or any nights following. In fact, nothing happened until New Years Eve at the skating rink.

That was the night my web of lies got a little bit more tangled.

A/N: Hey guys, this is my first GG story, and I hope it was okay. R&R please!


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